Skulni's Tale
by agatha-shelly
Summary: Lucinda usually gives traits such as obedience, companionship, and eternal love as gifts. This is the story of her most unusual gift.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, thankfully.

Note: I'm still trying to figure out formatting, so thanks for bearing with me too. If you haven't read Fairest, I'll try not to give anything away. This is meant as a prequel anyway, it's how I explain why Skulni the evil mirror has all those rules to him while Lucinda's other gifts are so simple. Thanks for reading!

For as long as I can remember, I've hated weddings. Disgusting little affairs, I always thought them. The only good part was the food, which was thankfully always abundant and tasty. This one seemed no different at first, perhaps a little more boring than usual.

A monstrous boar roasted in an open pit, while attendants milled about the room with refreshments to be served. No one seemed to notice my presence, although with my dark leathery skin and spider-like features I stood out in the mostly human crowd. If anyone did see me, they hid their disdain well. Imps are masters of mischief and chaos, and I was no exception. Having an imp guest at a wedding is considered by humans to be the worst of ill omens.

I helped myself to a second cup of ostumo as I moved to the back of the room. The ceremony commenced as I tried my hardest to block out the endless droning of the various speakers while thinking of all the trouble I could start. Even the humans around me were fairly bored. Only one listener was paying any attention, smiling as she followed every word – a fairy! How could she swallow all that tripe?

Imps are sworn enemies of fairies, and we come to these vile events to spoil it for them, though I also come for the feast. Without blinking, I gathered a fireball in my open hand and flung it straight at her.

It hit her squarely in the back of her head and ignited her hair. My aim was excellent – no one else was even singed, but someone screamed. I assumed that they noticed my spell on the fountain near the bride – it had stopped spouting water and started spewing frogs – or perhaps they saw the roast boar come alive and rampage across the dessert table, tossing pecan pies and cream tarts into the crowd. I began to laugh and pelt the hapless guests with bananas, until I saw the fairy, indignant, advancing quickly towards me, not even bothering to put out her flaming hair.

The room was deathly silent now. Humans know better than to interfere in squabbles between magical beings, especially when it involves fairies and imps. "You!" her angry cry filled the silent room. "How dare you ruin this good couple's wedding!"

As she reached me, she conjured a hand mirror and, before I could do anything, brought it crashing down on my head.


	2. Chapter 2

I was trapped in the fairy's mirror. I saw a door and rushed to open it, but to no avail. Suddenly, her face appeared. She must have left the wedding, because I could see the gaudy pink and white spires of Fairyland behind her.

"What have you done?" I demanded angrily.

"I am the fairy Lucinda," she replied, "and I am going to teach you a lesson. And you are?"

"I am the imp Skulni. Release me from this mirror at once!"

"Not until you've learned your lesson." She ignored my demands and continued. "I think that I will give you away as a wedding present. You will help the recipient use my potions wisely. Humans can't be trusted to use them correctly without sage magical advice. If you do a good job, you will be freed from my mirror."

"I am no present!" I retorted as I summoned a mace and swung it wildly at the mirror. It rebounded off the glass and sent my flying. As I picked myself up, I studied my handiwork. It was adamantine metal encrusted in diamonds – the hardest known materials, and not even a scratch on the glass.

"Looks like you have no choice," she said, and then she was gone.

Lucinda returned two days later to reveal the identity of my new owner. Her name was Kay, and she was soon to marry a young goat herder.

"This will be an easy task," Lucinda had told me as she dropped off her wedding gift – me. "I'm sure things will work out."

"Drink the green vial and you will be pretty. Drink the brown vial and you will transform into whatever you imagine. The mirror will tell you the rest." With that hurried explanation, Lucinda left me alone with my new owner.

I watched her drink the beauty potion, but kept silent as her husband returned home.

"The villagers are so stupid," he said. "I pretended that there was a yeti in the mountain pasture this morning and they all came again!"

"I wish you wish you would stop tricking the villagers," Kay replied. "If a real yeti attacked you, the villagers might think you were fooling them again."

"Don't be silly. The villagers will always come, that's how trusting they are."

"I'm afraid for my husband," she confided in me after he left the next morning. "If he keeps tricking the villagers, I don't know if they will believe him if a real yeti attacks. Lucinda said you will tell me what to do."

"I know exactly what to do. Take your disguises potion and transform into a yeti. Go up to the mountain and scare him out of his wits." My plan will brilliant, it would teach Kay's no-good husband a lesson and have some fun at the same time. She obviously thought so too, for in an instant she had finished the disguises potion and was headed up the mountain.

A half hour later, she returned, sobbing inconsolably. "My husband saw my yeti disguise and believed it, magic mirror. He ran for his life and fell straight into a ravine. It's my fault that he's dead!"

"You can't be blamed. He would have been ignored by the villagers if a yeti really did appear and then eaten." My words only made her weep harder, though I cannot deny that it was not my intent.

The village mayor visited us later that evening. "We found your husband, Kay. He was attacked by a yeti. We all thought it was another one of his tricks, so nobody went to help him. We only decided to investigate when he didn't return in the evening. He's dead. I'm so sorry."

There was an awkward silence, and then the mayor left. Kay continued to wail while I watched, mildly entertained. At least the villagers won't ignore frantic wails for help now, however duplicitous they might be.

Unfortunately, my remaining years with Kay passed ever so slowly and tediously, until she finally died. I watched her spirit fly into the mirror, and then even before Lucinda could appear and explain everything to her, I grabbed the door, twisted the doorknob, and rushed out. Freedom was mine again.


End file.
